A wide variety of implantable medical devices (IMDs) for delivering a therapy and/or monitoring a physiologic condition have been clinically implanted or proposed for clinical implantation in patients. Some implantable medical devices may employ one or more elongated electrical leads and/or sensors. Such implantable medical devices may deliver therapy or monitor the heart, muscle, nerve, brain, stomach, or other organs. In some cases, implantable medical devices deliver electrical stimulation therapy and/or monitor physiological signals via one or more electrodes or sensor elements, which may be included as part of one or more elongated implantable medical leads. Implantable medical leads may be configured to allow electrodes or sensors to be positioned at desired locations for delivery of stimulation or sensing. For example, electrodes or sensors may be located at a distal portion of the lead. A proximal portion of the lead may be coupled to an implantable medical device housing, which may contain electronic circuitry such as stimulation generation and/or sensing circuitry.
For example, implantable medical devices, such as cardiac pacemakers or implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), provide therapeutic stimulation to the heart by delivering electrical therapy signals such as pacing pulses, or cardioversion or defibrillation shocks, via electrodes of one or more implantable leads. In some cases, such an implantable medical device may sense intrinsic depolarizations of the heart, and control the delivery of such signals to the heart based on the sensing. When an abnormal rhythm is detected, such as bradycardia, tachycardia or fibrillation, an appropriate electrical signal or signals (e.g., in the form of pulses) may be delivered to restore the normal rhythm. For example, in some cases, an implantable medical device may deliver pacing, cardioversion or defibrillation signals to the heart of the patient upon detecting ventricular tachycardia, and deliver cardioversion or defibrillation electrical signals to a patient's heart upon detecting ventricular fibrillation.
Also, implantable medical devices, such as electrical stimulators or therapeutic agent delivery devices, may be used in different therapeutic applications, such as deep brain stimulation (DBS), spinal cord stimulation (SCS), pelvic stimulation, gastric stimulation, peripheral nerve stimulation or delivery of a pharmaceutical agent, insulin, a pain relieving agent, or an anti-inflammatory agent to a target tissue site within a patient. A medical device may be used to deliver therapy to a patient to treat a variety of symptoms or patient conditions such as chronic pain, tremors, Parkinson's disease, other types of movement disorders, seizure disorders (e.g., epilepsy), urinary or fecal incontinence, sexual dysfunction, obesity, mood disorders, gastroparesis, or diabetes. In some cases, the electrical stimulation may be used for muscle stimulation, e.g., functional electrical stimulation (FES) to promote muscle movement or prevent atrophy. In some therapy systems, an implantable electrical stimulator delivers electrical therapy to a target tissue site within a patient with the aid of one or more medical leads that include electrodes. In addition to or instead of electrical stimulation therapy, a medical device may deliver a therapeutic agent to a target tissue site within a patient with the aid of one or more fluid delivery elements, such as a catheter.